1. Technical Field
Aspects of the invention relate to an image forming device that forms an image in accordance with an electrophotographic imaging process, and a process cartridge employed in such an image forming device.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, image forming devices that form images in accordance with the electrophotographic image formation process have been known. Typically, such an image forming device has a main body provided with a transfer roller, and a process cartridge detachably attached to the main body. The process cartridge includes a photoconductive drum, and when the process cartridge is attached to the main body of the image forming device, the photoconductive drum and the transfer roller face are press-contacted with each other. In such an imaging device, in a process of detaching/attaching the process cartridge with respect to the main body, the photoconductive drum and the transfer roller may slide-contact each other. In such a case, the surface of the photoconductive drum may be deteriorated and quality of the formed image may be lowered.
To avoid the above problem, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. HEI 11-52814 discloses a structure for switching the photoconductive drum and the transfer roller between a press-contacted state and a separated state when a drum unit (i.e., the process cartridge) in response to operation of a lever. When such a structure is employed, by detaching/attaching the drum unit after they are separated, the slide-contact between the photoconductive drum and the transfer roller can be avoided.
In order to realize the structure disclosed in the above-identified publication, a relatively complicated structure including a cam mechanism should be employed. Further, an additional operation of the handle is necessary, which make operability in detaching/attaching the drum unit worse.